Monkey Bread
by xenascully
Summary: Tibbs SLASH. Response to Author's Note Challenge 1. Monkey bread, 11 cats, and an annoying cell phone notification sound...


**CHALLENGE RESPONSE from the Author's Notes Forum (xenascully dot come slash authorsnotes) By the way, if you haven't already, please come sign up and play with us on the forum :)**

**Monkey Bread**

**Rated: M**

**Summary:** **This is in honor of the visit to TaylorGibbs' house last weekend  
>Items: Monkeybread, 11 cats, an obnoxious cell-phone notification sound.<br>Challenge 1!NCIS**

Tony say, sulkily, on the huge sectional couch, flipping through the channels on the huge flat-screen TV. His friends were out of town at a convention, about four hours away, and needed him, at the last minute, to house-sit...and cat-sit, as it turned out.

Not one...not two...but eleven cats.

In this palace that was the couple's new home, it made Tony wonder if Lexi, was actually Bestat; the feline goddess of Ancient Egypt... Even the cats had an elegance about them. Not one of them looking the slightest bit mangy; but more like kitty-princes and princesses.

Rick's wife had left a list of their names and descriptions, so he could tell them apart. He was just grateful that they didn't have any "special needs" like...medicine or baths. Feed them; clean up hairballs; scoop poop. In exchange for use of the huge television and dvd collection nearly doubling Tony's own, he could live with it.

A particularly grey cat, jumped up on the couch beside him and began sniffing Tony's pant leg. "Well, hello there," Tony was slightly afraid to pet him just yet. He decidedly picked up the list of names from the coffee table and looked for the grey cat's name. When he found it, he couldn't help but to crack a smile. "Heya, Jethro!" he held out his hand, and Jethro sniffed it, before rubbing an approving cheek against his fingers. "Gibbs would either get a kick outta this, or be pissed I've been talking to Rick about him," he scratched Jethro's head.

Jethro seemed to be finished with Tony's attention, and jumped down, trotting out of the room. Tony sighed. Amidst the many unenthusiastic cats nestled around the house, even with the wide selection of movies at his disposal, Tony felt insatiably lonely.

Gibbs had offered to give him a lift to the house after work, when it'd started snowing out. He'd said, "My tires get better traction," and something along the lines of, "I'd like to know exactly where my agent will be, this weekend."

Once he'd heard there'd be eleven cats, Gibbs had decided against coming into the house.

So here was Tony, more than a little disappointed that he didn't even get the chance to somehow convince Gibbs to stay with him. But that...that was just a pipe dream. Yet, even if he couldn't have had him in that sense, he seriously would have loved to have Gibbs' company. In any way he could have it.

Tony sighed again.

The television wasn't holding his interest. His gaze drifted to the window, out into the night sky, which seemed almost lit up, with the full moon's light hitting the falling snow. Speaking of snow, it was really coming down now. Hell, it'd been coming down pretty hard on the way here. So much that Gibbs was only going about five over the limit.

Suddenly, Tony was a bit worried.

He leaned forward on the couch and grabbed his phone, considering calling his boss, just to check on him. He'd only just left about five minutes ago. "What if I call him, and it distracts him from driving, and he wrecks?" Tony thought. "But what if he's already wrecked? What if he's on the side of the road, or in a ditch somewhere, and needs help? What if he's unconscious? Will he get buried in the snow and not be found for days? Oh God...how long is it supposed to snow again?"

His thoughts were interrupted by another cat, maneuvering around his ankles, and mewing as his beady little eyes peered up at him. It was as if the cat had sensed his sudden distress. When Tony made eye-contact, the cat stood on its hind legs, placing his paws on Tony's knees, and gave him a soulful look.

"What?" Tony asked, still slightly distracted. The cat mewed in response. Tony couldn't help but crack a small smile at the little guy. "I'm just worried about my boss," he petted his head, and the cat purred. "What's your name, now?" Tony peered at the list again, finding the name via the detailed description of markings per cat. "Ah damnit, Rick... Gunny? He named you Gunny, huh?" he let out a small chuckle and scratched his head.

Gunny mewed again, purring as he rubbed his face against Tony's knee.

"So...should I call him? Do you think he's okay? I mean, it's Gibbs...He's probably fine. But what if he's not? What if he needs help or something? He...he's probably okay though...and he might get annoyed if I call, 'cause he's probably trying to concentrate and all. I might distract him, ya know...Ow!" Tony pulled his hand away after Gunny bit him, lightly. "What was... Wait... Did you just Gibbs-bite me?" he shook his hand as Gunny trotted off, unaffected by the scolding. "Excuuuuse me, your majesty! Sorry for rambling!"

Suddenly, there was a knocking at the door.

His eyebrows pinching together in slight confusion as to whom would be at the door in all this, Tony got up from the couch and made his way through the airlock, to the front door. He pulled back the blinds and peered out, not even needing to turn on the outside light, to see Gibbs shivering on the porch.

Frantically, Tony threw the porch-light on and turned open the locks. "Boss!" he said as he threw open the door. "What're you doing?" he pulled him inside and slammed the door back closed. "You look like a human-snowman, Gibbs!" he began dusting the piled-on snow from his boss's head and shoulders, and pulling off the NCIS jacket from the shivering man before him, without a single protest or fight from him. "Christ, Gibbs, how long were you standing out there? Did you...did you walk here? Did the car get stuck?"

Gibbs merely nodded, stiffly, through the shivering.

"Why didn't you call?" he asked as he lead him to the couch. Gibbs managed to glare at him, as he was made to sit. "Right...I don't have a car... Still, Boss, you shouldn't have walked in this. It's unbearable out there." He pulled a throw-blanket from the corner of the couch, and wrapped it around Gibbs' upper-half, before crouching down to take Gibbs' snow-caked boots off of his feet. "Your pants are soaked up to the knees. I've got a pair of sweatpants that'll fit ya. They'll be a little long, but they'll work. Just...just sit tight a sec," he told him, before remote-starting the fireplace, setting the dripping footwear in front of it, and heading into the other room to grab his overnight bag.

Gibbs concentrated on getting himself to stop shivering so harshly. The heat now emanating from the quickly roaring fire, was helping.

"Here ya go, Boss," Tony laid the pants on the arm of the couch. "Need help changing?" Gibbs fixed him with a halfhearted glare. "Course not... Don't know why I asked that... I'll be right back," he scurried off to the kitchen, which incidentally was within the same room, separated by a bar. But his back was turned, so Gibbs carefully slipped out of the cold, wet pants, and slipped the sweatpants on. He tossed the wet ones over next to his shoes and pulled the blanket back over his shoulders.

Tony returned, handing Gibbs a steaming mug of coffee. Gibbs took it, gratefully, meeting Tony's eyes as the younger agent sank down to sit beside him.

"I'm sorry, Boss. I shouldn't have let you drive me up here in this..."

"Not your fault," he replied, taking a sip of the coffee, and humming his appreciation.

"You should've at least called to tell me you were walking. I would've met you out there."

"And gotten sick in this weather, DiNozzo? With your lungs?" he argued.

"You're impervious to illness, now? C'mon, Boss. Regardless of the cold, I wouldn't have known to be waiting for you. What if something had happened on the way here? Someone could've hit you with their car and left you for dead, thinkin' you were a deer since they can't see a damn thing in front of them in this..."

"What're ya, my father now?" Gibbs cocked his head. But Tony fixed him with a serious glare, and he could see that he was dead-serious. Had he actually been that afraid? Gibbs let out a breath, "I dropped my phone," he muttered, taking another sip from the mug.

"You what?"

"I dropped my damn phone in the damned snow, DiNozzo... So much snow, I couldn't find it. Happy?"

"No." He sank back on the couch. "But I'm glad you're not dead in a ditch."

Gibbs smirked and leaned back as well, "Well, thanks... And thanks for the coffee. Not half bad."

"Lexi's got the same taste in coffee as you, Boss," he smiled.

"Smart woman."

"She's not too shabby," he grinned. That's when the grey cat decided to make an appearance; right into Gibbs' lap.

"Uh..."

"Oh hey there, Jethro," Tony chuckled and scratched under the cat's chin.

"'Scuse me?" Gibbs quirked a brow.

"Cat's name...Jethro. Jethro, meet Jethro!"

"Great. Now there's a dog _and_ a cat with my name..."

"Popular name amongst animals, I suppose." Tony received a timely headslap, but merely giggled. "One of them is named 'Gunny', too."

Gibbs quirked a brow, again. "Somethin' you need to tell me, DiNozzo?"

"Um..." Tony was suddenly quite aware of his slip-of-the-tongue. There was no way out of this one, of course. It was Gibbs, after all. He'd know. "I uh...may have mentioned you a couple of times..."

"They've got two cats supposedly named after _me_, just from you mentioning me a couple times?"

"Well...maybe a few..." his eyes darted around, avoiding meeting those of his boss, in fear of having every ounce of information dragged out of him. He suddenly jumped up, "You hungry, Boss?" he made his way back to the kitchen. "There's some kinda cake thing in the fridge. And there's a label that says 'Special' on it. I'm dyin' to try it!"

"Cake thing?"

"Yeah, see?" Tony brought the concoction to the living room and set it down on the coffee table. "Cake...thing..."

Gibbs cocked his head at the jello-mold-formed "cake thing" in front of him. He leaned forward, ripped a small piece off of it and stuck it in his mouth. After a few seconds of chewing, he turned to Tony. "Monkey bread," he told him.

"Monkey bread?" Tony got an incredulous look on his face.

"It's like a giant doughnut, DiNozzo. It's better when it's hot, but this is...well, pretty damn good, I'll admit. Shannon used to make it. Long time ago..."

Tony swallowed at the rare mention of Gibbs' late wife. "Guess if you think it's good, it must be pretty good," he said as he leaned forward and ripped a test-size piece from the side. Upon popping into his mouth and chomping down, he was pleasantly surprised. "Mmm...you were right. This is...awesome!" he exclaimed with a full mouth, before reaching for another large chunk.

Gibbs couldn't help a small chuckle at Tony's child-like display of culinary satisfaction. He grabbed another chunk for himself, as well, and they sat there, eating the bread; Gibbs shaking his head with every exaggerated moan coming from his SFA.

Not a few minutes later, the power suddenly shut off. They both froze, waiting for it to come back on. But it stayed out. "You've gotta be kidding me..." Tony groaned.

"Least the fireplace is going," Gibbs told him.

"Yeah. So much for movies, though."

"Eh...more to life than movies, Tony."

"Wish we had some steak," he grinned. "You could cook us up some, cowboy style. I love your cowboy style steak," he told him, followed by giggling.

"What's so funny?" Gibbs couldn't help but to smile at the way Tony's face lit up by the firelight as he laughed.

"I'm not really sure," his smile broadened. "But um," he cleared his throat and forced on a more serious face, "I'm really glad you're here, Boss. Sucks, that your car got stuck and you had to walk here in the freezing cold... But I'm glad you're here."

Gibbs found himself searching Tony's face; getting lost in the way the fire reflected the younger man's eyes. He could've sworn Tony had begun leaning closer to him, in that moment. Gibbs' heart suddenly sped up its beating; the action eliciting something inside him that he couldn't really explain right then. But the moment was broken by a sudden and unexpected shout from across the room.

"_SONOFABITCH!"_sounded an unfamiliar male voice.

"What the hell was that?" Tony jumped up, reaching for his sidearm, instinctively, though it wasn't there.

Gibbs shrugged off the blanket and stood, reaching for his sidearm that had been stuck in his jacket pocket. "Thing that came from outside?" he asked, quietly.

"No, that was definitely inside..."

"_SONOFABITCH!" _sounded again.

"What...Oh god. Okay nevermind, Boss. False alarm," Tony sighed. "That's Rick's cell phone. He must've left it here," he made his way to the other room to fetch the device.

"What the hell kinda ring-thing is that?" Gibbs asked, putting away his weapon.

"Notification sound, actually. Tells you when you get a text or email. Think Rick said it was from a show he and Lexi watch," he informed him as he made his way back to the living room with the phone. "I'm gonna give them a call; let them know it's here." He picked up his own cell from the coffee table and dialed a number, before lounging back on the couch. "Hey, Lex! Yeah, his phone's here...I'll turn it off... Yeah, snowing pretty bad here, too... Power's out, but the fireplace is going... Yeah... Yeah, actually he's here. Got stuck in the snow and had to trek back to the house... No, he's okay... No...No, damnit, Lex!...Lexi, please!"

Gibbs raised a brow at the blush that rose to Tony's face that could be seen, even in the dimness of the room.

"Lexi, just...give it a rest, okay? Oh by the way, we helped ourselves to some of that awesome monkey bread stuff... What? What's that mean? …No. Well, wait, now I'm curious!...Okay fine, we won't eat anymore. I'm putting it away, okay?...Alright. Enjoy your convention. Talk to you later." He ended the call. "Sorry 'bout that, Boss," he said before placing the phone down, standing up and taking the plate of monkey bread back to the fridge. "Lexi's a little...um...well, never mind. Monkey bread is off limits apparently. Guess the "special" sign actually meant "don't touch"."

"Never were one to follow direction fully, DiNozzo," Gibbs smirked.

"Hey, well that one was worth it, you've gotta admit. That was damn good."

"Was pretty good," he agreed. "I'm tired, for some reason," he said, scratching the back of his damp hair.

"Might have something to do with the hike you almost killed yourself on," Tony snipped. "I'll make a place in front of the fire for you to lie down," he stood and slid the coffee table to the far way away from the fireplace. Gibbs watched, feeling more than a bit lazy and foggy, as Tony pulled cushions from the long sectional, and lined them up on the floor a few feet from the fire. "Get up, Boss. I need the one you're sittin' on."

Gibbs stood, after taking Tony's proffered hand to help him up. "Don't think I need a king-sized floor mat, Tony," he commented at the huge sleeping area the younger man had made.

"Well, it's not just for you," Tony counteracted as he laid the last cushion down. "I've gotta sleep too, ya know. And who knows when the electricity will come back on? This will be the only warm place in the house. Hopefully, we'll be safe from waking up to being cat-beds."

Gibbs didn't know why, but that statement seemed awfully funny, and had him...giggling.

Tony stood, mouth agape, staring at him. "Did...did you just...giggle?"

Gibbs forced himself serious and glared at his agent. "I'm going to sleep."

"You want a different shirt, Boss? Wasn't sure if yours was damp or something."

"Got one on under this," he told him as he went to pull the polo off. "It'll be fine."

"Kay," Tony replied, softly, as he watched Gibbs strip off the shirt. Usually, Tony didn't have a problem with at least pretending that Gibbs didn't have an effect on him. Hiding his feelings, after all, was something Tony was a pro at. But for some reason, tonight, Tony was finding it difficult to remember how, exactly, to do that.

He shook himself and turned away. "I'm gonna go change, real quick. Be right back, Boss. Don't wait up."

Gibbs didn't wait up.

Tony figured that out by the time he'd gotten back to the living room, ready for sleep. Gibbs was lightly snoring, facing the fireplace. Tony was grateful for this, though slightly disappointed at the same time.

He carefully lowered himself onto the cushions and faced away from the man beside him, dragging the throw-blanket over them both, before settling in. He was surprised at how calmed he felt, in that moment, and began drifting off.

But suddenly, Gibbs shifted behind him, and threw an arm around Tony's waist. Tony was suddenly wide awake; his heart skipping and speeding up in his chest.

"_Stop reading into it. Stop reading into it. Stop stop stop stop stop,"_ he repeated in his head. He was frozen; had to be. He concentrated on calming himself and just going back to sleep. But then Gibbs moved closer to him. A lot closer. Hell, he was practically spooning Tony, now.

Tony swallowed what he was sure had to be his heart in his throat. _"Please don't let him move his hand..."_ he thought. He'd kill him if he discovered what was causing the sudden uncomfortable tightness in his fairly loose sweatpants. But then Gibbs' hand started very slowly moving down, from Tony's stomach. _"Oh no...nononono!" _Though part of him was truly screaming,_ "Yes yes yesyesyes!"_

He stifled a groan when Gibbs' hand grazed over Tony's clothed erection. But just barely. He held his breath. And then...then Gibbs pulled him back against him, revealing his own erection as it pressed along his hip.

Tony couldn't stifle the groan, this time, as the breath he'd been holding, released, noisily. "Gibbs...Boss...Are...are you awake?" he breathed.

"Been awake a while," he replied, and Tony realized his boss's mouth was at his ear, as the warm breath cascaded over his cheek.

"Oh god..." Tony moaned as Gibbs squeezed him.

"I saw how you were watchin' me, Tony," he told him in a whisper, pressing into his hip again.

"God, Boss..."

"Thought maybe it was time I let you know, I watch you, too."

All the breath rushed from Tony's lungs, and he found himself twisting in Gibbs' arms, to face him. There wasn't a moment's hesitation before their mouths collided in a heated battle. Hands roamed over each others body, touching, exploring, claiming... Not stopping. Not until they needed to breathe. And even then, they didn't want to stop.

"Is this really happening?" Tony asked, his voice laced and husky from their activities.

"You want it to?" Gibbs replied, looking into the green eyes the bore into his.

"Hell yes, I do," Tony told him, stealing another lingering kiss, but pulling away once more. "But should we be doing this? Isn't...isn't there a rule?"

"There's somethin'... But I can't really think of a single reason, right now, why the hell we should follow it."

Tony let out a soft chuckle. "There musta been somethin' in that monkey bread. You'd have to be drugged, to go against your own rules, Boss."

"Maybe I was just waitin' for a good time to break it, Tony," he told him, before swooping back in to claim his lips once more.

Tongues collided, and moans escaped their throats. Tony's hand traveled from Gibbs' chest, downward, until he reached the waistband of Gibbs' sweatpants. He snaked his hand under the material and found what he'd gone searching for, wrapping his fingers around the thick shaft.

Gibbs groaned against Tony's open mouth. At this sign of approval, Tony's other hand snaked down and pulled the pants down, out of the way, so that he could get a glimpse. Gibbs had to bite his lip as he looked down at Tony's hand, wrapped around him. This was surreal. He never thought this would happen. Maybe Tony was right; maybe the really was something in that monkey bread.

But he didn't care.

Gibbs watched as Tony pulled down the front of his own pants, allowing his erection to spring free. They'd barely done anything, at this point. But Tony was hard and purple with need; precome beading at the tip. It made Gibbs' dick twitch in Tony's hand. And in turn, the precome oozed from Tony.

He watched in awe as the younger man used his palm to collect the liquid, before grasping both cocks in that fist. Only then, did Tony's head come back up to meet Gibbs' eyes. They both breathed heavily, inhaling each others air, before joining again in a heated kiss. Tony's hand moved, expertly, pumping them both, until they both took over the movement by thrusting their hips into each other.

"Tony..." Gibbs breathed, for the split moment their lips were separated. He was, after all, a man of few words. Neither of them had much to say, honestly. All they could do, was feel...smell...listen...

It wasn't long before they both fell over the edge and into oblivion, and the only sound was their breathing, and the crackling of the fire beside them.

Several minutes passed, before Tony broke the silence. "I can't believe we just did that..." he found purchase of his hand and settled it on Gibbs' hip. "That was...unbelievable. I mean...we can do that again, right, Boss?" he met Gibbs' eyes.

Gibbs brought a hand up to the nape of Tony's neck, "I should hope so."

Tony felt a warmth throughout his body, and it lit up a smile on his face that Gibbs would've sworn he'd see, even if there wasn't firelight reflecting from it...

Epilogue

"Thanks again, Tony," Rick and Lexi told him as he made his way out to the car, where Gibbs was waiting.

"No problem, guys. I thoroughly enjoyed your home. Even the cats. Oh by the way, sheets are in the dryer from the guest bed. I um...spilled a soda," he cleared his throat. "But it didn't go through to the mattress."

"Oh, that old thing?" Lexi swatted the air. "It's old. You could've used the master bed, Tony. That guest bed is ancient. I don't even know why I let Rick talk me into bringing it from the old place."

"Well, anyway," Tony knew Gibbs was probably annoyed by the waiting, "Anytime you need me again, don't hesitate to call."

"See ya later!" Rick called as Tony got into the passenger side of Gibbs' car. Rick turned to Lexi, "How much of the monkey bread did he eat?"

"Not too much, I don't think," she told him. "I still think we should tell him."

"No way! If he didn't eat much, it shouldn't be a problem."

"If he gets a random blood test at work, he could get in a lot of trouble!" she argued.

"Ugh... Fine, fine... I'll let him know, tonight. For God's sake, Lex, next time, you gotta tell him first-hand to not touch the monkey bread!"

"Yeah yeah. Wave to the lovebirds, Ricky," she said, pasting on a smile as she waved at the car that pulled out of their driveway...

**Fin**


End file.
